Fascinating article in this morning's Standard-Examiner, announcing that the fake trolley buses foreshadowed here have now suddenly appeared on Ogden City streets. Ace Reporter Schwebke's lead paragraphs provide the initial lowdown:
OGDEN — Rubber-wheeled trolleys are making a comeback in downtown Ogden, thanks to a newly established company.The story goes on to report that a these two above-named local entrepreneurs have come out of nowhere to acquire four of these rubber tired monstrosities, (presumably with their own money, right?) and that routes and itineraries are already planned between Ogden's tourist hotspots.
Two trolleys, owned by Innovative Transportation Services Inc., are debuting this week with free daily rides from the FrontRunner intermodal hub at 23rd Street and Wall Avenue to Ogden Pioneer Stadium.
The inaugural run is tied to the city’s annual Ogden Pioneer Days celebration that concludes Saturday.
The vintage-looking yellow, blue and red trolley buses have received a favorable reception, with long lines of passengers waiting to ride them, said Jeanie Milne and Anthony Laub, owners of Innovative Transportation Services, based in Ogden.
And here's where the story turns from strange to bizarre. Even thought the idea of using faux trolleys was originally Boss Godfrey's idea, he feigns complete surprise about this latest "public transit" development. Here's more from this morning's story. We swear we are not making this up:
Mayor Matthew Godfrey said city officials were surprised but pleased to learn that Innovative Transportation Services had already purchased four trolleys.And here comes the Godfrey money quote:
“We think it’s a great idea and hope to see it up and running,” said Godfrey, who has long advocated a downtown trolley system.
It’s possible the city may be able to contract with Innovative Transportation Services using existing municipal funds already budgeted for transportation services, he said. [Emphasis added]Our gentle readers will no doubt remember the $200,000+ federal grant which the council believed Godfrey had agreed to allocate for further Ogden public transportation studies, i.e., real street cars?
Connect the dots, gentle readers. It would now appear that Godfrey has other ideas for the use of that money, and that the council has yet another fight with the administration looming. Get set for Ms. Milne's and Mr. Laub's arrival at a city council meeting very soon, looking for a taxpayer handout.
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